Magic And Malice At The Movies (The Conclusion) free porn video

MAGIC AND MALICE AT THE MOVIES A GENDER SWAP TALE Rachel Rose Parker Mr Williams has trapped Joey in the job (and in his clutches) by altering her reality even further and all because Stephanie and she were developing their relationship in new ways... How are they going to find their way out of this nightmare and back into their old lives?! Sorry for the delay in posting, it's been a manic time, but in return for your wait, why don't you enjoy... THE CONCLUSION of Magic and Malice at the Movies! And it's a bumper instalment!!! I hope you enjoy this last part to the saga as much as I enjoyed writing and sharing it with you. If you want to help a sister out at all, the book is on Amazon Kindle Unlimited, and checking it out there will help buy me a cuppa. Aaaaand you can even check out a reworking of my first story there too (reworked after some great feedback from here on the site!), if you want a bit more of the green cube world. Just search my name. Please do enjoy, and remember, I really love to read any feedback and reviews! It's the only way I know if people are reading, and if they want any more from me. And don't forget you can find me on Twitter @RRoseParker. Now settle in, because this isn't going to be a smooth ride... **************** Chapter 11 Pulling up my knee high socks was a weird sensation. I had my shirt tucked in to my pleated skirt and slipped on my little black shoes, getting myself presentable for school. My mum had woke my siblings and myself up at 7AM to make sure we all got up and ready for school in time. Even before I started to dress myself, I was ordered to dress my little sister, Jamie, in her own uniform, which differed from mine in that it was a pinafore. She ran out of the room to join our brother, Shawn, at the breakfast table, and I took a moment to check myself out in the mirror. I knew I was old enough to draw the stare from particularly creepy men, even though the uniform wasn't much in the way of being a sexualised fantasy. It was a pretty shapeless uniform, and I was a pimply teenager with braces. I sighed as I gathered my books, preparing myself for the new world. Joining my family at the table, except for my mum, who was running around, popping toast and pouring juice for the little ones, I instinctively bent down to tie Shawn's laces, something he hadn't quite mastered yet. After having problems getting him to learn how to do it a few years ago, we gave in and gave him shoes with Velcro fasteners, but recently had decided it was time he properly learned how to do his shoes up like the other boys. Wait... What was I talking about?! Oh no, it was all seeping in to my reality bit by bit. It was strange sharing the table with these people so much younger than me that I knew were now my flesh and blood. They were loud and fussy and spilled milk from their cereal all over the table, which stood in direct opposition to the quiet breakfasts my parents and I had shared all my life. It occurred to me, seeing us all in our Catholic school uniforms, that there was probably a little bit of religion in the family, which was probably something used to make us all that bit tighter. And it would explain mum's steadfastness in keeping and raising a family after daddy skipped town. This couldn't have been further from my life just a few days ago, but right now, it didn't feel all that distant. I guessed Mr Williams' handiwork was doing its thing, and it'd be no time before I would only know myself as schoolgirl Stephanie, big sister of Shawn and Jaimie, and daughter of Josephine. I guess there were worse fates in life. No! Come on, Steph! I mean, Steve! Keep it together. You have to figure this out before it's too late. Before you've lost yourself. Mum and I didn't get much of a chance to talk beyond her making sure I had made sure the kids had everything ready for school, and that I had all my books and lunch ready to go. Then she set me off with the task of leaving them both off to their respective schools on the way to my own. Walking my siblings, the responsibility of looking out for these two vulnerable little people weighed on me. I never really spent time with any of my cousins' kids when I was Steve, so never really had a grasp of how to deal with two people under ten. Thankfully, they seemed to entertain themselves, spouting off nonsense, running ahead and running back, laughing, and just generally being good kids. Thank God they weren't little nightmares. I didn't know what I would do. On our walk, I could feel ever man's gaze that passed over me and my knee-length skirt. I knew I had checked out girls in a similar manner, and was sickened to think this might be how they felt. It was so objectifying. Especially when I had no choice in the outfit, and that it was definitely designed to evoke a completely different and far more respectful reaction from people. I walked both of my siblings to their schools, conveniently located right next to each other, following their leads as to which one to leave which kid, since I had no idea. Once they seemed safely inside, I headed back on my own trek, following some girls dressed in the same uniform as mine, until arriving at the gates of St Mary's School for Young Women. The building was old and grey, which a giant crucifix affixed out the front. I could see some older sisters strolling around the halls inside. I gripped the strap of my bag, took a breath, and went on in. The hallways were buzzing with activity as students made their ways to lockers to grab their books and get ready. I stood still, unsure which way to go to find my own locker. A group of girls passing by rammed into my shoulder, sending me stumbling. I looked up at them in annoyance, but felt a wave of cowardice pass over me as I saw who they were. Even though I had never really seen them before today, I knew that these athletic and beautiful young women were the stars of the hockey team, and were stunning specimens of the female form, somehow making even the shapeless uniform curve around their sporty figures. Though you wouldn't think much of them when looking at them, something about them intimidated me greatly, especially seeing them in a group. It flashed through my mind that because they were so good on the field, they were given a lot of leeway in terms of behaviour. Teachers didn't look for homework, and were happy to walk down a different corridor if the ladies were caught taking part in particularly bad or violent behaviour. What I'm saying is, memories of them picking on me came flooding back, and I wanted no part of it. "What are you looking at, robot mouth?" one of them hissed. "N- nothing," I stammered. "N-nothing!" another one mocked back. My cheeks went red as the girls all laughed at their dominance over me and kept walking. I looked around to make sure we hadn't caused too much of a scene, but no one was looking. I guess this kind of bullying was every day occurrences in the halls of St Marys. I shook my head, remembering that I still had to figure out where I was going, but how would I do that? Then the bell rang. The other girls quickly dispersed, slamming lockers and letting out squeaks from their shoes as they turned and hurried off to class. I started to have a panic that I would get into a lot of trouble if I didn't get to class ASAP. I had to remember that I wasn't actually this schoolgirl, and if I was late, so be it. Calming myself down, taking a moment to just think, it popped into my head to check my school journal to see if I had my classes and rooms down in it. I was relieved after pulling the journal out of my bag and discovering I had, in fact, labelled the rooms all my classes were in, with my entire schedule. Analysing the girly handwriting, I disseminated I was in room 4R5 for math, and hurried along to try find it. All the classroom doors were identical, except for the numbers they bared on the outside, which I counted as I tried figure out where my room was. My low heels clicked on the floor and echoed down the corridors as I hurried along, no one else left outside of class now bar me. Eventually, I found my room, and burst right in the door. Big mistake. I stopped in place as the entire class of girls my age, as well as the teacher holding his whiteboard marker, stopped and stared at my entrance. Again, my cheeks went hot red. "Stephanie," the teacher started, casual but with authority. "How nice of you to grace us with your presence. Now, I know it might be difficult to get your head around this, but we all still start this class at eight thirty sharp. Same as yesterday, same as tomorrow." "I'm sorry..." I mumbled with embarrassment. "Take your seat and make sure it doesn't happen again." I nodded and shot off for an empty seat in the middle of the room, hearing the girls' whispers and giggles at my admonishing. I know the teacher was only doing his job and me being late was in reality very inconsequential, but for my teenage self and all my peers, it felt like a bigger deal than it was. Sitting in my seat, I reached in to my bag for my maths book. My brow furrowed as I looked through the different texts jammed in my backpack. I quietly admonished myself as I realised that in my rush, I hadn't gone to my locker, and I hadn't got the books I needed for the class. Looking around to see if anyone would notice, I slipped out my journal, pencil case, and a copybook and lay them on the desk, acting as if I was setting up everything I needed. If I played it casual enough, there was a good chance I could get away with not having the text book in front of me. I cleared my throat and sat myself up straight in the chair, having flashbacks to my own real years in high school. Things really hadn't changed all that much, except I had been in a mixed school, and the addition of the uniform made everything seem a bit more stuffy and proper. Then I felt the sharp swipe at the back of my neck. "Ow!" I yelped. Everything turned in their seats to face me as I grasped the back of my neck. My cheeks heated up again at once. "Stephanie, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" the teacher asked. I pulled my hand away from my neck and looked at it, seeing the blue ink on it. Someone had marked the back of my neck with a pen. Having no clue who it was, and already drawing far more attention to myself than I wanted to, I decided to play it cool as best I could. "Uh, no, sir. I just... Got a scare... From a spider." Ok, maybe not so cool. Girls around me giggled and the teacher rolled his eyes. "Ok, well, let's try not make any more scenes for the rest of the class, ok, Stephanie?" I looked to the floor. "Ok..." "Good. Now, as I was saying..." He turned back to the whiteboard and continued on his lecture. I turned around and looked at the girl directly behind me. She returned my stare, scowled at me, then shot me the bird and looked back up at the teacher. I scanned some of the other faces behind me, trying to find the culprit, but most of the girls were looking at the teacher or taking notes, bar a few who were whispering and giggling with each other while looking in my general direction. I couldn't tell if they had been involved in the drive-by penning, or if they were simply laughing at my outburst. Without a lead, I turned back to face the front. I played with my jumper sleeve, brought down by the idea that someone would pick on me. I'd always heard girls were awful to each other in school. I guess I was finding the truth on that one out first hand. My mind wandering, I took the green eraser out of my pencil case. I fiddled around with it in my hand for a moment, before breaking it in half, making the single rectangle become two cubes. I starred at it. It reminded me of the cube Mr Williams' hand. I had to get that cube. I had to figure this out... I couldn't be stuck in high school and living my life as this new person. I just couldn't. The whispers and giggles from behind me drew my attention. I could sense they were directed at me. Something white in my black hair caught my gaze from the corner of my eye. I reached up to pull out a small piece of scrunched up paper that had been thrown in my hair. I grimaced. Instinctively, I swotted my hair, in case there was more. This released an avalanche of about twenty pieces of paper that tumbled from my hair to the floor. The giggles behind me intensified. I shot around; anger on my face, trying to spot the perp, but all I found was pretty much all the girls now laughing at me. "What would be the answer to the equation then, Stephanie?" "Huh?" I turned back around to my teacher, a clueless look on my face. "The equation. I would like you to tell me the answer. Because I know you have been focusing on what I have been saying, particularly in light of your tardiness and disruption of my class this morning. So, the answer, if you please." My eyes darted across the whiteboard. I had zero clue what we had been talking about, let alone what the answer could be. I took a shot in the dark. "Forty two?" The class laughed. I hung my head in shame, but even the teacher seemed to get some amusement from my lame Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy gag. "I appreciate the effort you have put in to your improv skills, but maybe from now on, pay attention so you can give me the correction answer when I ask you, ok?" "Yes, sir..." I sheepishly mumbled. He turned back to the board and I buried my head in my hands, mortified at the show that had been made of me. Whispers kept going behind my back. I was pretty sure I could make out a few words; 'loser', 'dumbass', 'slut'. Was this to be my life for the next two years? I didn't know if I could hack this. Puberty and high school is tough enough the first time, but doing a second round in an environment of hostile peers and with a body still developing and going through all the usual woman actions like a period sounded downright horrifying. Eventually, the bell rang. I gathered my books into my bag and high- tailed it to the hallway. I went to grab my journal out of my bag to see if I could locate my locker when another girl bumped into me. "Watch where you're going," she scolded as she kept on walking. Frustrated, I zipped my bag shut. That was it. There was no reason for me to be putting myself through this. This wasn't really my life, and no matter how many false memories or feelings put in to my head, I couldn't forget that. I had to bring Steve back. Making sure no teachers were watching, I discreetly made for the door and left the school. Walking the street by myself once again, I felt like everyone was looking at me. I was like a target in my uniform, walking away from the school. I tried to put it out of my mind. After all, what's the worst that could happen? They'd call my mother? I think she might let it slide this time. I was lost in thought as I walked, wondering the finer details of my new past. Did I have new ambitions or dreams in life? Did I still want to work with computers? Or had Mr Williams changed it so I'd be drawn to just working in the cinema? Or maybe I had a new path like wanting to be a beautician or a nurse or something I was sure was a bit sexist to immediately consider. Had I had any relationships that meant anything to me? And if so, were they with boys or girls? What the heck was my sexual preference now? I guessed it wouldn't be shocking if it was boys, considering this seemed to be a full on reality change, but it seemed like a big jump to take in terms of my lifestyle and preferences. Had I had sex yet, or was I still a virgin? None of these thoughts or memories had come to me yet, just vague feelings of awkwardness and shyness. So, basically a teenage girl. I didn't even notice until I arrived at the doors that I had made my way to the mall. Not only that, but I was making my way inside. My heart skipped a beat for a moment when it occurred to me that if I showed up at the cinema now, I'd definitely get in big trouble for skipping school, and God knows what Mr Williams might do to make sure I stayed in line. Mercifully, I wasn't heading that direction. I tried to keep my mind as blank as I could and just let my legs walk where they wanted, allowing the magic to lead me where it may. I stopped. My brow furrowed as I looked up at the name of the premises; Bobby Joe's. It was a 50s-themed diner, very kitsch. But why had I made my way here? I had dropped my CV in to the Bobby Joe's in the other mall yesterday when I was still a college student, but I hadn't had any phone calls about an interview or anything. Something caught my eye. It was an early twenties young man, waving at me from inside. He was headed in my direction. He was clad in the buttoned up white shirt with a black bow tie, black shoes and slacks, a black apron with a large nametag on it, and an old-fashioned diner hat to top it off. He looked a bit awkward in himself, as if he was still growing into his body, but he was definitely older than me (the new me, anyway). He opened the door and came up to me. "Hey, Steph! You visiting me at work?" And it all came flooding back. This was Aaron. Bobby-Joe's waiter, twenty year old college student studying literature. My boyfriend. A part of me almost threw up in my mouth at the realisation. The Steve part of me was first off put out by the fact my sexual desires had indeed been changed, and that I, a now seventeen year old girl, was going out with a college student. I could almost sense the history of it, where he impressed me at a friend's party with his collegiate ways, dazzling this high schooler, who was drawn in to this older academic. Blah. I hated myself for being so lame. "Steph? Hello? Ground control to Major Tom?" I snapped out of it, realising I was just staring at him. "Sorry, I was lost in my own world for a sec." "Well hey, make sure you find your way back to this one. I like you on it." A goofy smile spread across my lips. I was actually feeling charmed by this. The possibility of throwing up was growing exponentially. "So, what are you doing here? I didn't think you had any free classes today?" "Oh, no. I don't," I stumbled along. "I just wasn't feeling too well so decided to bail on school early." "You're sick?" He took a half step back. "What's wrong?" "Oh no, it's nothing. I'm much better now. I decided I should pop by and say hello to you before I hide away before work later," I explained, as much for myself as for him. "Oh, cool. I love it when you show up in your uniform. That whole Catholic school girl thing. The thought of you being naughty..." He breathed heavily. My skin shivered. Or was I getting goose bumps? "I can't really stick around too long. My manager's on me to 'be more productive' and shit. Such a lame ass. If only she understood just how inconsequential that place is in my overall narrative." "Uh huh," I swooned, drawn in to his struggling author narrative with far too much ease. "Anyway, I got to go back in. But text me where you end up hiding out. I'll have a fifteen minute break in an hour. We could try get a quickie in down the service corridor." How romantic... But I guess that answered the question of my virginity. I couldn't believe I would be caught doing those kinds of things with this kind of stereotypical college goofball. He was borderline repulsive. I'd be better off just walking away and never seeing him again. "Yeah, that sounds hot. I'll let you know where I am." Damn it, mouth. Say what I want to say, not what Steph wants to say. "I'll catch you later." I went to turn when he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me in for a kiss. Immediately, I wanted to pull away, slap him, and stride off into the distance, but that was only in my head. What I actually did was close my eyes, moan, and shove my tongue into his mouth and start playing with his tongue piercing. His hand slipped up under my skirt and he gave my ass a quick squeeze, before releasing both the ass and my mouth from the kiss, his piercing clanking off my braces as he pulled back. "Later, babe," he winked as he turned and went on it, the tailed from his apron strings bouncing in his cocky step. I melted for him. I could feel tingling coming from my lady parts. If he'd said he had the time to take me right now, I would have gone along with it. You can't just turn down a college guy. When they want it, you give it, and then you know how to give it when you get to college. No! Stop! I don't want these thoughts! They aren't me! They are na?ve and sexually ignorant. I was acting like a horny teen to an unbelievable degree. So, to break it down, I was a loser in school, from a struggling religious family, who was hooking up with the opportunistic college kid who should have been dating girls older than me. What sort of girl had Mr Williams made me? Actually, that was a good question. Why was I feeling so horny right now? I mean, objectively, I knew Aaron wasn't that attractive, but was it his life experience that was turning me on? Or the danger of the older man? Was that something I was in to and got off on? If that was the case, did Mr Williams do this to me? And did he do it for a reason? Wait... A plan was starting to form... Mr Williams wouldn't have accidentally made me sexually active. How would that have benefited his business? It wouldn't. However, it could benefit him personally. That's it. That's how I could get close enough to get the ring. He left the door open for me to be sexually active. He probably thought he was subtly manipulating me to eventually give him head or something, but what if I took control? What if I used my newfound sexual excitement, but coupled it with my want to topple Mr Williams? I could do this. I could seduce Mr Williams. Chapter 12 This was it. D-Day. The last lap. This was go big or go home. Not even Mr Williams would be dumb enough to let me get away with things after this attempt, and there was no telling what sort of horrid things he'd do to me to make sure he got his way. I had to pull this one off, or I was screwed. I slipped into the cinema, giving a casual nod at some of my co- workers, paying extra attention to my surroundings, making sure neither my mum nor Mr Williams were in the foyer as I passed through it. The last thing I needed was to be caught before I'd begun. Every corner of the building was a hazard I had to sneak across. Being a weekday, there weren't many people around to draw attention away from me, who still felt like a huge target in my school uniform. I reached the entrance to the staff-only area and slipped in. My plan was simple; I was going to get in to Mr Williams' office, and seduce him. Then, hopefully having him distracted enough, I could get my hands on the ring and fix everything. There was definitely a bit of detailing missing from my plan, but I always thought I worked well under pressure, and this matter was (identity) life or death. I glided quietly down the corridor and was about to take a turn towards the section where Mr Williams' office was when I stopped in my tracks. There were voices. One of them was unmistakably Mr Williams. And he was approaching fast. My eyes shot around the corridor, looking for an exit. I tried the one door near me only to find it locked. Panic rose up in me as the footsteps got louder. What could I do?! Scanning the corridor, all that occupied it was a cleaning trolley and some cardboard boxes. I groaned to myself, taking the only option I could; I dove behind the cleaning cart. Crouching to make myself as small as possible, I pulled the dirty towel bag towards me, trying to hide my body. I knew it was a flimsy hiding place. All someone needed to do was look at the trolley and they would be able to identify the cowering schoolgirl pretty much immediately. I held my breath as Mr Williams and his company got closer. The steps approached. Then slowed down. Oh no, I thought. That's it, they've seen me. Should I run? No. It wouldn't do any good. Mr Williams could just wish I had no legs or something like that. I closed my eyes tight, not wanting to experience what happened next. "Right, so we are clear on the course of action then?" Mr Williams was saying to his cohort. "We will have to split the two cleaning teams to cover the third screen for the late night showing this week, and by next week, it shouldn't be an issue anymore." I wearily opened my eyes. He hadn't seen me. Yet. Slowly turning my head, I looked up at the two people. Mr Williams' back was to me, and facing him was one of the male floor staff I had seen taking the tickets over the last few nights. "Yes, sir," he replied to Mr Williams. "I'd maybe suggest that if one of the films isn't filling the medium screens, moving them to a smaller screen to make it quicker on the crews to get through." He looked down right at me. My heart was in my throat. "That's what I like about you, Ted." Mr Williams continued. "Always problem solving. You'll make it to the top in here in no time, I tell you." I tried to plead with Ted through eye language. I could not get caught. Especially now. Mr Williams would know there was something up from me hiding. Mr Williams' body began to turn to follow Ted's stare. This was it, I was found out. Then Ted put his hand on Mr Williams' arm and started walking him down the hallway again. "Well I'm learning from the best, sir," he distracted the boss. They made their way back out on to the floor, giving me time. Before closing the door, Ted looked back and me. Just as the door closed, he mouthed 'Do it.' I let out my breath and started to breathe easy again. It hadn't occurred to me before that other members of staff might be on board for stopping Mr Williams. Mum had said, back when she was Joey, that a good few of the people working here had been affected by Mr Williams in one way or another. They were probably seeing the disruption I had been causing and were rooting for me to find a way to save us all. I hadn't talked to anyone else here, allowing mum's negativity against my plans of action to paint my expectations of the rest of the staff. I slid out from behind the trolley and jogged on to Mr Williams' office. Slipping in to the neatly kept room, my first thought was how small it was. I wasn't going to be able to hide from him here. I just had to make it work. It was time to kick the plan in to action. I threw my bag down behind the desk, quickly followed by my school jumper on it. I loosened my tie and undid the top few buttons on my shirt. If there was one thing my previously-male brain could remember, it was a sexy schoolgirl, and that's what I was going to give Mr Williams. Grabbing the band of my skirt, I started to fold it up on itself until the hem was now stopping just shy of V-town. I looked at my reflection in a picture frame. Something was missing... Ah ha! I let my hair loose before grabbing one side, bunching it together, and tying it up. I repeated the same with the other side until I had ridiculous pigtails jutting out of my head. I swung my head side to side, the hair bouncing as I went. I shot myself a cheeky airhead grin, getting taken aback by just how convincing the results were. Hopefully this was going to be enough to sell Mr Williams. I shoved some papers and the phone off his desk and hopped up on it, lying on my side like a pinup from a magazine. Making sure my groin was pointed towards the door, my intentions were crystal clear. I was now every man's fantasy, and you'd have to be gay to not want to teach me a lesson. Then it hit me; what if Mr Williams was gay? I'd never had any interaction with him that suggested one way or the other. He was always all business. What if he swung for the other team? Or he wasn't into pre-male employees? I furrowed my brow as all the obvious holes in my plan came to light. What was I doing? This was so stupid. I was a teenage girl with big train track braces that gave me a slight lisp. I was kidding myself to think I was some sort of sexpot. Mr Williams would see right through this, and then... Then he'd punish me. Oh god, I didn't even want to think about what he'd do to me. Or my mum or family. I'd really screwed up. I was about to ruin everything. I had to bail. Get out of here before Mr Williams came back to discover me. Self-consciously, I grabbed the top of my open shirt and held it closed as I went to move off the desk when- The door handle started to move. I froze in fear, still straddling the desk, hair bouncing around in its pigtails, vulnerable. The door opened. Mr Williams walked in. He stopped and our eyes locked. A thousand years could have passed in those few moments. I couldn't move a muscle. The expression on his face was nearly impossible to read. He turned and quietly closed the door. He looked back at me, calculating his words. And then he spoke. "What do we have here?" My heart was in my throat. I couldn't gauge what way he was taking this. I had a choice to make; to apologise, try smooth things over and hope he didn't blow his lid with me, or to go ahead with my plan. Fuck it. Remember, fortune favours the bold. "I came here for you, Misssster Williamsss," I slowly said, trying to be as seductive as I could. Considering I had only had ovaries for about 48 hours, I thought I was doing well. But what would Mr Williams think. He stared at me as I lowered my head slightly and looked up at him with my doughy eyes. A smile crept out from beneath his moustache. "Really? Has someone been a... Bad schoolgirl?" He was flirting back. My stomach was fluttering. Not from being romanced, but by how nauseated it felt. But I kept my composure and raised a coy smile of my own. I reposition my legs slightly further apart on the desk as I played on with him. "I've been the worst. Teacher sent me here to you. She said you'd know just what to do with me." He slowly skulked forward, unable to take his eyes off my body. "Is that so? Well, I think I know exactly what needs to be done with a naughty girl like you." "Oh gee, what are you going to do?" I cooed as I put one finger daintily into my mouth. He reached for his trousers and began to unbuckle his belt. Getting a good look at his crotch, I could tell that part one of my plan was firmly in action. I just needed to keep him going at all costs. But he stopped. The smile dropped from his face and his hands stopped undoing his belt. "What is it?" I asked, doing my best not to break the moment. "How old are you?" "Old enough," I reassuringly told him. "No, seriously. How old?" "I'm seventeen." He really should have known that. He made me this age. I guess he probably did so much reality altering that he couldn't keep track of the finer details of everyone. He started to shake his head. Worry rose within me. What was wrong? "No, no, no. That's not... That's too young. I can do a lot of things, but I won't do that." It was strange to see him wrestle with something like this, especially after all the other violations he'd committed on people in his employ. Regardless, I needed him to get back on the train. "It's ok. I want this. Promise." I shot him the cute eyes again, fluttering my lashes. I could see him struggle. "No, no, no. It's not right." He raised his hands in the air. "It's too close. I wouldn't feel right." He was turning to leave in his confusion. He couldn't. I needed to think of something... "Wait!" I called after him. He stopped. "You can do something about that." He turned to me, hope crossing his face. "Oh?" "Well, you could always make me a bit more of a... Comfortable age for you." I hid my worry about being changed again. This was a bullet I had to take. He slapped his forehead. "Oh my God, of course! That's good thinking, Stephanie. Let's not waste any time, huh?" He raised his ring to his mouth, to make his wish. I could only hope he wouldn't change much beyond my age. That wouldn't upset my plan too much. I listened intently to hear what I could expect to become, holding my breath as he spoke. "I wish you were twenty one. Nice and comfortably legal," he smugly said. The room glowed momentarily, and I could feel my breasts fill out that little bit, like they had been pre-preteen. My skin was also clearer. Acne days behind me. All things considered, an improvement on my situation. Then Mr Williams continued, much to my chagrin. "I also wish you were a dirty girl, who knew all the best ways to 'punish' me, and make me cum hard. And that your schoolgirl outfit was a little more... fun." Inwardly, I groaned as the light overcame me. When it settled, I looked down to see my uniform was still on me, but instead of being regulation Catholic school attire, I was wearing a ridiculously sexualised outfit. My skirt had shrunk even more, barely covering my crotch, and my socks had grown lacy frills and suspenders. The shirt had shrunk into a barely-fitting crop top, with my breasts threatening to pop the buttons at any moment. My tie has shortened, and was bouncing around my cleavage. Black plastic frames filled my peripheral. I was wearing prop glasses, to give me that studious look. I reached up and could feel ribbons that matched my skirt tied into my pigtails. I ran my hand along my mouth. My braces had disappeared, but now I had hooker red lipstick on. It matched the varnish on my long manicured nails. A part of me felt humiliated, but a bigger growing part of me was enjoying the moment and wanted to do nothing more than embrace my kinky side, even if Mr Williams had just given it to me. No no no, I told myself. Get a hold of yourself, Steph- Steve! This is going perfect. He is in to this. You just have to get him to let his guard down a bit more and we can finally put this whole thing behind us. Mr Williams' smile could almost reach around his head, it was so wide and seedy. But I didn't care. It was time to get down to business. I reached out and loosened his tie, popping his top button of his shirt open. His breathing deepened. I leaned in, doing some heavy breathing of my own along the nape of his neck. He quivered, like putty in my hands. I gave his neck a quick flick with my tongue. He moaned, bending over slightly as he squeezed his legs together. Leaning back, I coyly looked him in the eyes before starting to unbutton more of his shirt. Though I was forcing myself to be as sexually confident as possible, as I passed down his expanded belly, I knew that this was all coming very natural to me. His wish had come true. I knew exactly what to do to get him going. I had to keep reminding myself just how important that it was that I didn't let myself get lost in this feeling of sexual gratification. He had unwittingly given me the power to do exactly what I needed with him, and I needed to remember that it was paramount that I used that power to suck his cock slowly. No! Wait, that's not right... I pulled his shirt open, flinging it and his tie to the floor, exposing his rotund gut, patches of hair breaking up the pale skin. I don't think anyone could mistake this for attractive, but in that moment, he might as well have been Mister Universe. I couldn't take myself away from him. Tracing a finger down his treasure trail, I reached his trousers. He'd already loosened his belt, and in mere moments, I had the rest undone, so they dropped to the floor. I grabbed him and pulled his body close to me. He was near silent, bar the heavy breathing and moans of anticipation my acts were eliciting. Gyrating against his body, I could feel his hard cock rubbing against my thighs. "Oh, Mr Williams. It feels like you have something big and hard in your pants to punish me with." Holy shit, where did that come from? A bad porno? But he seemed to be in to it. He was losing himself in the moment, being taken in by my act. His eyes were closed and he was struggling to keep his composure as my hands passed over his nipples and through his hair. Sweat was starting to run off him, just as I had hoped. I lightly ran one hand down along his left arm. This was it. This was my time. My hand slowly made its way down, getting closer and closer to his hand with the ring. I just needed to get my timing right here and I'd have him. Or more precisely, I'd have the ring. He just needed to be lost in my caressing enough for one moment for me to strike and pull the ring right off his sweaty finger. But I needed to make sure his entire attention was completely occupied, so my other hand ran the other way down his body, towards his twitching penis. I slipped in under his boxers. He gasped as my nails ran through his unkempt pubic hair, and my finger lightly traced a circle around his bulging cock as it went to hold it. I would squeeze, give a pump, and he would be done for. I would take the moment to pull the ring right off his hand, even if I had to take the finger with me. I readied myself, more fingers on my left hand prepared to give him an effervescent squeeze, while the other was playing around on his hand, about to strike at the same time and pull the ring right off. Both our hearts hard so loud I could feel them as our bodies pressed together. I counted down in my head, along with my deep breaths. Three... Two... One! My hand squeezed his penis and he yelled in pleasure as it moved back and forward on his shaft, making his body tremble all the more. But my other hand didn't pull the ring off... What are you doing!? I argued with myself. This is your shot! You don't have another shot! Oh my god! Take the ring! Take it! Take it! But it was useless. I felt compelled. I shoved my face against his, locking lips. His moustache tickled my upper lip as my tongue penetrated his mouth and began to play against his. I pumped away at his dick, and my free hand moved away from his ring to pull his boxers off all the way. I then grabbed him by the ass, giving a firm squeeze, turned him and forced him onto the desk. I couldn't stop myself. I had to have him. I had to make him groan. I had to make his yell. I had to make him cum... Damn it. His fucking wish had overcome me. And there wasn't a thing I could do about it. Even worse, I was enjoying it. Mr Williams threw his hands to his head in ecstasy. I couldn't stop myself as I moved in. Repulsion hit my stomach, but I was about to do it; I was about to suck Mr Williams' cock. My lips pursed in an 'O' shape that I imagined probably looked a lot like a ridiculous sex doll, and my mouth engorged his dick. I bobbed my head back and forward, pigtails bobbing along with me, as his member rhythmically thrust against the back of my throat. He moaned in pleasure, and I involuntarily moaned back in response. I couldn't believe I was doing this, and that I was so IN to it. This man should be making me dry like a desert, but instead, I could feel my nether regions getting wet. I'd be riding him in no time if I couldn't get control of myself, and the worst thing was, I would enjoy it. Working the base of his shaft, my head moved faster and faster as I felt him getting closer and closer to climax. He'd be shooting a load right into the back of my throat in no time, and I bet he'd want a girl like me to swallow. Ugh. No! Stop! That's enough! The thought of his cumming in my mouth snapped me out of my sexualised haze. I was still sucking him off, but I was aware of what I was doing. I had to hold on to this moment. He was in to this, and I had to be able to use that to my advantage. Even thought things had gone off track, this was all still a part of my plan. I just had to course correct. But how...? Wait! His wish! What had it been? Specifically? 'I wish you were a dirty girl, who knew all the best ways to 'punish' me, and make me cum hard.' That was it. That was my out! I was doing all this as a part of his wish, but his wish was all so he would cum hard. I was obviously on track to do that, but once he'd come, that would be the end of my obligation, AND he'd be so lost in himself that I could grab the ring. This had to be it. This had to work. He had to cum. But I'd be damned if I was going to let him nut in my mouth. Of all the things he had done to me, I didn't want that. I could feel him tensing, getting closer and closer to exploding. Without warning, I stopped sucking. "Hey! What the fuck?!" He panted. "Don't worry, baby. This is going to be so much better." I hopped up on the desk, straddling him with my knees either side. I grabbed him hands and forced them down by his side. His head lolled back as he realised what I was going for. I repositioned myself and insert his dick into me. I let out a small yelp. This was my first time I'd actually had any penetration as a woman. I felt... Different. I slowly moved, finding my rhythm, Mr Williams groaning in pleasure. He was still tense. At least now if he was to blow his wad, it wouldn't be in my mouth. I knew it would still be in me, but this still felt different. Less humiliating. My change in plan hadn't put him off too much. I tried to keep my plan in mind. Get him to cum, get the ring, get even. But as I gyrated on top, I could feel myself slipping again. I had to try keep my head in the game. I had to make him cum, but I had to remember I was doing it as part of a bigger plan. But what if this plan was stupid? What if making him cum didn't give me back control, but instead was just the beginning of me wanting to make him cum more? What if, like before, when the time came, I couldn't stop myself? My heart was racing. Was I starting to get close to climaxing myself? Oh shit... I'd always heard that women had more intense orgasms. What if it was so intense that I couldn't focus on getting the ring off? I was too in to the screwing him to stop now. I couldn't pull myself off if I wanted, and a huge part of me didn't want to. His pelvis was pushing forward, mine pushing in to meet it. We were getting close. I squeezed my hands on his, the sweat running off both of us. The sound of our pleasured yelps, the smacking of our skin, and the banging of the desk filled the room. I could feel the ring and the cube against my fingers, millimetres away from my clutch, but my energy was all being redirected. Then it happened. He shot forward, tensing his body. I stopped, my mouth blasting open and releasing a loud scream. His semen shot in to me, my vagina pulsating in pleasure as I came. I looked down and could see the smile on his face. He was feeling the same. I was overcome with the intense vibrations running through my body like an electric shock as he kept pulsating in me. And then my mind cleared. My body continued to tremble, still orgasming more intensely than I ever had as a man, but any need to pleasure Mr Williams fell away. I could control my impulse again. It was time. I fought through the immense gratification I was feeling. My fingers closed around the ring on his hand. He didn't even notice. He licked his upper lip as he kept coming in me. I yanked. His eyes shot open, confused. "What the-" My free hand shot over his mouth, cutting him off. I yanked again, the ring getting caught on his knuckle. Mr Williams wriggled under me, caught off guard. He shot out his arm and swatted my dainty arm away from his mouth. "Get away from-" But I kept pulling. And I used my free hand to help pull it. "Stephanie, stop! I wish you'd-" But before he could finish, the ring popped off his chubby finger. A smile lit up my face, but it fell as quick as the ring that fell to the floor behind Mr Williams' desk. "No!" he screamed. I somersaulted over him towards the back of the desk as he shoved me off. He danced himself around on the desk, like a beached whale trying to get back to the water. I scanned the floor, trying to find the ring. My schoolbag and jumper were still behind the desk. I shoved them out of the way in my search. -CLANK- The sound of something hard falling from my bag and hitting the floor stopped both of us in our tracks. Williams and I locked eyes for a second, before he rammed his hand in my face and shoved me back away from the noise. Falling back, all I could do was watch as he rolled off the desk and towards the ring with the cube on top. He grabbed it in his fist, clenching it in fear of dropping it again. I crawled around the desk, towards the door, but he got to his feet quick, still naked bar his socks, and blocked my path. "You little piece of shit. You are far more trouble than you're worth." An arrogant smile formed under his moustache. "It's time I set you straight, once and for all." "Wait-" KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. "Hello?" It was mum's voice on the other side of the door. "I heard screaming and banging. Is everything ok?" "Yes, go away!" Mr Williams bellowed. "Mum! Help!" I cried. "Stephanie?" The door swung open, and Joey walked in. She stared at us, disbelief painted across her face. "What's going on here?" Mr Williams, with his dripping dick on show, standing domineeringly over the stripper-esque schoolgirl on the floor must have been quite a sight. "Ah, Joey. I'm glad you're here. You have been about as much a pain in my ass as your daughter has been. I've tried to be nice. To make things easy on you, but now I can see that's never going to work. It's time to get serious." "No! Please!" my mum reached out at Williams. He grabbed her and shoved her down towards me. She threw her arms around me, cowering down with me. "No more of that! How dare you lay a hand on me? You know what? You won't be doing that again. You won't be doing anything again. You will be locked up in a room and left to rot, you two little bitches." He was furious. He cheeks glowed red. I'd hope he'd have a heart attack, but I knew we wouldn't be so lucky. I looked at my mum. Tears were streaming down her face as she prepared herself for his punishment. He was dead serious. We had pushed him too far. "You will spend the rest of your miserable lives wishing you'd just done what I wanted, you cunts. I wish..." We both took deep breaths as he delivered his death sentence. We knew it was going to be bad, but nothing could have prepared me for just how twisted he became. "I wish you both had no arms, no legs, and lived on ventilators in a shitty nursing home where the male attendants rape you on a daily basis!" Our mouths dropped open. He sneered at us with a sickening pleasure. "Enjoy your new lives, you bitches." Chapter 13 Mum tensed up beside me. Mr Williams stared, his face plastered with his maniacal grin. They both prepared for this worst case scenario wish to become my and my mum's new reality. And nothing happened. Mr Williams' smile faltered as he realised he was waiting too long. The flash should have happened by now. Then a smile spread across my face. "Rule number one of combat, Mr Williams," I taunted him. "Misdirection is the best offense against an adversary." "What...? How...?" He looked dumbfounded. "You might want to check out your cube." He was filling with something I had never seen him experience; fear. It looked good on him. He slowly opened his hand to reveal a ring and green cube, but not the one that had been on his finger minutes ago. This one consisted of the round bit of a keyring, and the cube I had made out of my eraser back in school. He was predictable, and I knew in his panic he would rush to what he thought was his precious cube, missing the finer details like was it actually his cube or the fake I had sprung on him. I could see the worry enter Mr Williams as it dawned on him that he didn't have the cube anymore. "But... I had it..." "Wait," my mum chimed in, realising the situation. "If he doesn't have it, then..." My smile widened. I raised my hand and uncurled it, displaying the ring and cube on my palm. Mr Williams' eyes went wild, and he lunged for it. Just as I expected he would. Again, so predictable. "I wish you couldn't move a muscle." There was a flash. He froze, mid-reach, close, but so far from getting the cube. He was like a statue; absolutely no movement. Unlike Mr Williams, I didn't want to be making any stupid mistakes now. He would never get the chance to redo what he had done to us again. "Let's play it safe now, why don't we? Don't want any little accidents happening. Mr Williams, I wish you could never touch or use this cube ever again." The flash was weak, but the change was made. I could hear my mum's sigh of relief. Mr William's reign of terror was over. A giddy thrill ran through me to see my tormenter with no power. It was a payback time. "Don't worry, Mr Williams. I'm not going to leave you like that. And I'm not going to make you limbless and stuck in a hospital for the rest of your life, like you would have done to us. Not that you wouldn't deserve it, you sicko. But I'm bigger than that." "What are you going to do to him?" Mum enquired. "Well, let's start with how he forced us in to the job. That seemed a little unfair, don't you think?" Not even his eyes could move. But I knew he could hear me. "Not really the kind of behaviour you'd expect from a manager, is it? I think we can fix that though. I wish you were no longer the manager." An idea struck. "You know what? I wish I was the manager and you were the trainee." The white flash made us all blink momentarily. When it cleared, I was delighted to see I was no longer in my skimpy schoolgirl outfit, but in slacks and a fitted striped shirt, open at the collar, and a black blazer, with a nice metal nametag distinct from the one the staff wore that showed my higher standing in the company. Very professional. Very managerial. Mr Williams, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. He was in the typical uniform of slacks, buttoned-up shirt, bowtie, waistcoat and hat. It looked like it was struggling a bit against his size. His nametag read Frank, and the tag on his other breast said 'trainee'. Oh, the sweet feeling of revenge. I looked at my mum to see if she was sharing in my revelations, but she seemed a bit more on the anxious side. Looking back at Mr Williams, his frozen body, I could understand her worry. We didn't want anyone to actually get hurt, and who knows what could be happening to him on the inside while frozen stiff. "Hey, let's get you a bit more comfortable. Eh, Frank?" I grinned. "I wish you were no longer frozen, but sitting on the floor, palms flat on it, unable to remove them or get up until I expressly say it." The flash passed through the room, and sure enough, Frank was sitting on his ass, hands flat on the floor. He exhaled loudly, relieved to be able to move again, but he looked at himself, then at me, seeing our roles reversed. "Please, Miss Haider-" That immediately stopped him. He now had to refer to me by a formal title, whether he liked it or not. He started again. "Please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anyone any harm, I swear. It was the cube. It just... Overcame me. Please don't do anything else to me." I shot mum a look of incredulous disbelief. "You know something, Frank? As manager here-," he grimaced as I asserted my new position. "It's part of my training to be able to tell if staff might be lying. And I think you're lying." "No, I swear-" "What do you think, mum?" She remained silent. I carried on. "I wish that you're compelled to tell us the truth. No hiding, no omitting, no trickery. Just the truth." Another slow pulse of light passed over us all. Frank's eyes looked on the verge of tears. "Please..." Frank pleaded. "Just let me go. I will only try and take the cube back in a way that might harm you, but not me." He shook his head in frustration at his admission. "That's what I thought. Now, let's get down to brass tacks here, Frank. Why did you do this to us?" "Because you deserved to be punished for the way you were acting in the cinema." He squeezed his eyes shut, knowing he was going to say something stupid very soon. "What do you mean deserved? I was bringing my mum a fucking hat. And all she did was act inappropriately with some girls. Not great, but not exactly something worth taking someone's free will and life over." I glanced at mum. Her eyes were locked on Frank, her hands pressed up to her mouth, taking it all in. We were getting answers, and we were close to getting our lives back. "Tell me, Franks; why did you think it was ok to do that to us? To rip us out of our lives and force us into your own little twisted narrative." "I only did it because I wanted to be a good manager, and to be a good manager, you need perfect staff." "You sound like you believe that. You know there's more to life than work, right? Plenty of people would work here and do a fine job without being brainwashed." "But I didn't need them to be fine. I needed them to be perfect. The best manager has to have the best staff." I cocked an eyebrow. "And what makes you think you were the best manager?" "Because I wished I was." The room fell silent. I looked to my mum with a furrowed brow, but she didn't have any better an idea than I did. "You... Wished to be the best manager? What? You were lagging behind the others in the company or something?" "No, I wasn't even a manager before I found the cube." This was a revelation. "You weren't? Then who were you?" "I was just a member of staff, cleaning the theatres, checking tickets, working the tills. Then one day I found the cube while clearing out a screen and it changed everything." "Why did you wish to be a manager, though? You could have had anything, and you chose this?" "No one took me seriously. They all looked down on me as the good little girl." Frank continued. A tear rolled down his cheek. I couldn't tell if it was from being forced to admit everything, or from remembering his past. "But this way, I could have their respect. I could show them that not only was I good enough, I was better than them. And those that didn't fall in line, would be forced to." "Why wouldn't you wish to be a millionaire or something?" "I wasn't thinking. I wished to be the best manager, and this is what happened. And after that, I didn't care about anything beyond making this the most successful cinema around. And I did a great job of that. I ate, slept, and breathed this place. All my thoughts and plans were on how to make it the best around, and how to make things run perfectly." He sighed. "But no one is going to remember it like that now, are they?" "Becoming the boss is one thing, but look at what you did to us. And all the others you probably completely screwed the lives of. How could you do that?" "I was turning a problem into a solution." Uff, such managerial talk. But he seemed to believe it. I guess once he changed, he no longer had any choice but to see things as a manager. The magic of the cube was strong, and he made such careless wishes. He probably couldn't understand the damage he was doing anymore. Not as long as it benefitted the cinema. "The good little girl..." mum whispered. We both turned to her. "Huh?" I enquired. "You said 'the good little girl' just now. Why did you say that?" she asked him. He looked her dead in the eyes. "Because I used to be a girl." The room fell silent. I didn't see that one coming. Why would someone who had all the power in the world change themselves into... that. I mean, there's nothing wrong with someone being into that look, but if I was to be in control of such changes, I would probably have gone for a stunner of a body. "A girl?" mum asked. "Yes..." he replied sheepishly, embarrassment filling his cheeks with red. I felt a bit bad for him now. "Why did you change yourself into Mr Williams then?" mum gently pushed. I looked forward to this answer. "I didn't mean to. I made my wish- to be the best manager- And I became this. I aged. I changed shape. I put on weight. I lost my hair on top, gained some over my lip, and ended up a middle-aged man. It seems this is what people expect a good manager to appear like. And I had no want to do anything but be the best possible manager." It was tragic, in a way. Just like the rest of us. Whoever she had been, she had made a mistake and wasn't able to fix it. I could certainly relate to not being able to do anything about the situation. It's what the last few days of my life had been. But now I had the power to right the wrongs. I looked at the cube in my hand, then at my mum. She was on the verge of tears with the compassion she was feeling. I wanted to hate Mr Williams, but it was suddenly a lot harder now than it was a few minutes ago. I needed to do something. "Mr Williams. I wish you were back in the body you had before you made your wish." I could almost see gratitude in his eyes as he looked up at me, just as the room filled with light. Once it cleared, the sight before me caused my mouth to hang open. Mr Williams had become a gawky young woman, no more than nineteen. Her body was curveless and narrow, her head slightly too small on her long neck. Her uniform could have been on a young boy's body. She had an overbite and acne. So this is what Mr Williams had been before he started making our lives hell. She was meek and vulnerable. I looked at her nametag. "Trish..." I sounded out. She looked down at her body, still unable to take her hands off the floor. "I never thought I'd be back in my old body again. I thought I'd be living my life out as an overweight middle-aged man" She smiled. "Don't thank me yet," I coldly stated. Fear swept her face. "I feel for you and what you must have gone through. I know this magic is strong. But you still used and abused us, and if I hadn't stopped you, you would have gone further, wouldn't you?" Her head dropped down. I leaned in to hear the whispered reply. "Yes..." "Well, Trish, I hope you'll remember you brought this on yourself. It's time we return everything to the way it should be." I took a deep breath as I prepared to seal her fate. "I wish-" "Wait!" My mum interjected. We both turned to face her. "What? What's wrong, mum?" "That's what's wrong. That's it exactly!" My face was plastered with confusion. "What's it? I don't get it." "'Mum'. That's what's wrong!" "Yeah... And I'm going to fix that..." "No, Steph, think about it. You call me 'mum'. We are different, but does that mean we are worse? Think about how I feel for you. And how you feel for me." "Oh, wow..." was all I could say. I knew what she was talking about. Mr. Williams'- Trish's- wish had hit home. We were family now, and we felt like family. I hadn't even thought about my own original parents since the change. Wow... I hadn't even tried to see what had happened to their reality without me... It didn't matter anymore. Joey was my mum, and I could feel our mother/daughter bond. I'd spent so long trying to find out a way to change us back into our old selves, I didn't stop to think if we'd want to go back. "Sweetie," she held my face in her hands. "What about your brother and sister?" Oh, God. Shawn and Jamie. I hadn't even thought about them. "I... I..." "I know you remember and feel it all like I do. We are a family." "But... What about our old lives?" "Forget about it. I don't want it anymore. You guys are my world now." I could feel the tears running down my cheeks. I was so conflicted. She was my mother, but she was also my friend who I was going to college with. We had lives. We had dreams, goals, aspirations. And now we were willingly letting all that go, because our love for each other was so much more important. This was all Trish's fault. She did this to us. She made us this way. Made us feel this way. I tore away from my mum and went right at Trish, hitting her full force in the face with the palm of my hand. "Stephanie!" my mum shrieked. Trish flopped to the side, but remained upright, her hands and butt not leaving the floor. She whimpered. "You bitch!" I let loose. "You did this to us! You made us this way! And now we're losing who we are all because you couldn't be a decent human being and let people chose for themselves!" "Sweetie. It's ok." My mum took me by the shoulders and brought me back away from Trish, who was trembling and about to set lose tears of her own. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I couldn't help it! Once I became Mr Williams the manager, I couldn't help myself! I'm so sorry." My anger started to subside. This poor girl had got herself in over her head and become something far beyond her control. I wanted to punish her, I really did. But I couldn't bring myself to alter someone else's life so dramatically. It wasn't fair. I might not be able to give her a taste of her own medicine, but I could teach her a lesson. "Trish, what you did to us was inexcusable. But you're biggest crime is just being an idiot. I wish..." she shot to attention and her eyes widened as I started saying the magic words. "You will never have anything bar a minimum wage, uniform and nametag-wearing, clock- punching job..." Her lip quivered as she could picture her entire future disappeared. "Steph-" Mum tried to stop me, but I kept going. "Until you have worked hard, are trained properly, and are able to treat everyone you work with with the proper dignity and respect they deserve, regardless of job level." The panic on her face eased a bit as she took in the conditions of her sentence. The flash passed over the room. "Until you do that, Trish, you stay on the bottom rung. It's the least you deserve for everything you've done. Now, go out there, smile for the customers, and serve some popcorn." With trepidation, she tried to raise her hands and found they could leave the floor. She stood up, shaky as she readjusted to the centre of gravity in her original body once again. She adjusted her hat and tucked in her shirt. She was about to walk out but stopped and turned to me. "Thank you, Ms. Haider. I really am grateful for this chance." I didn't reply. She turned and left, headed out to fulfil her role on the team. Hopefully she wouldn't retain any of the bad habits that made her Mr Williams, otherwise, she would be finding herself behind a till for a long time to come. I let out a long exhalation. I felt drained. But my mum's hand on my shoulder let me know it wasn't over yet. "You did a good thing." "I know..." I turned to face her, but struggled to look her in the eye. "But I'm not finished yet..." She could see where I was going with this, and was worried. "Stephanie, please. You have to think of your family." "That's exactly what I'm doing, mum- Joey." I corrected myself. I could see the hurt in her eyes as I used her name. "This isn't us, Joey." "It is now. What we think. What we feel-" "Was all made up by Mr Williams. Days ago, we were friends playing video games-" "And now we have so much more." "No, we don't. Look at yourself. He stole a decade off your life, and made you a struggling single mum. That's not who you are." "It is now, and I'm ok with that. Scratch that, I'm not just ok. It's what I want." I shook my head. "It's what he has manipulated you into thinking you want. Me too. Oh, god, I feel like I'm ripping apart inside..." I started to shake as I tried to hold back from balling. My mum grabbed me in a hug. "It's ok, sweetheart. We can just go home." I squeezed her tight. "No, we can't. Because this isn't real, but the parents we have, the ones who might not even know we exist anymore, they are real. The friends we have. The lives we've made. The dreams and future we have been aiming for. That's what's real." "Stephanie..." She tried to pull back to look me in the eyes but I held on tight. "Mum, I love you. I'll always love you. That's something this magic will never change." She fell silent. I heard a sniffle as she let her own tears fall. I buried my head into her shoulder, she did the same. An eternity could have passed in our embrace. I squeezed the cube, and still holding my mother, I whispered. "I wish..." Chapter 14 ONE MONTH LATER I furiously tried to finish writing my notes as the bell rung, wrapping up class for the day. Exams were just around the corner and I didn't want to miss a beat. My future was in my own hands, after all, and not being controlled by some magical cube. Even though there was the temptation to use it to cheat my way through life, I had only used the cube to set things into a bit more a familiar reality. "Hey, Steve," my classmate Chuck called across to me. "You think you could blast me on some of those notes later?" Remembering how he had treated me as Stephanie, I had no desire to do him any favours. "Yeah, sure thing." But he didn't need to know that... Yet. Discovering I wasn't going to give him notes when he was inevitably doing last minute cramming was a minor punishment for his behaviour. "Awesome, dude. Later!" he threw a hand signal as he sauntered out. I rolled my eyes. My patience for a lot of people had changed since my 'gender adventure', as I was calling it. Seeing the world from the other side had given me a lot to think about and, even as someone who never considered themselves sexist or an asshole, I had become hyper-aware of the way I treated people. In particular, if I wasn't treating them as people, but as something different. My outlook felt brighter, by doing my best to be good. I checked the time. I realised I'd have to hurry or I'd be late! I shovelled my notebook into my backpack and raced out the door. In the weeks since the wish, things had settled back in to routine. I was now back to my old normal male self. I had walked out of the manager's office in the cinema that day and went home to my parents, who acted as if nothing had ever happened. No knowledge of their daughter, or my absence for a few days. The photos, my room, my wardrobe, everything was back to normal. I was back in college, and I was treated as I was used to, but like I said, I wasn't as comfortable with that anymore. Not as long as some of my classmates were treating others in such demeaning ways. I was as responsible as I could be with the cube, but with such power, how could I not right some wrongs? The louts who had hassled me outside the pub that night on the way home, for example. I took it upon myself to teach them a lesson they wouldn't soon forget and get them to learn to treat women better, but that's another story for another day. I was in too much of a rush right now. I arrived at my destination; the cinema. You might have thought that I would have left the place and never returned, or maybe even wished it out of existence, but no. My ill will towards it all came from Mr Williams' wishes and it would have been unfair to have undone everything because of that. I walked on in to the foyer. "Hey, Steve! How's it going?" Justin, one of the staff, greeted me as I entered. "Hey, Justin. I'm good. How's things shaping up?" "Oh, you know. Busy, but good." "That's what I like to hear. Keep cool and I'll catch you later." "See you." A few more of the staff greeted me with welcoming smiles. It was a common occurrence after what I did. Though I never got to know anyone while I was working on the floor, I knew that most of, if not all the staff, had been affected by the magic. Once I started changing things, I made sure to change that. I undid Mr Williams' wishes, giving everyone back their original lives and their free will. One thing I did do was I gave anyone who wanted to keep working at the cinema the option to stay, but only under their own volition. Shockingly, only ten people chose to leave, but six returned over the following weeks to take up part-time jobs. I figured a lot of people were using it like a survivors group. No one outside of the people working in the cinema would ever believe such things had happened, and with some people having been affected for a long stretch, they really needed people to talk to about it. One person who didn't greet me, but instead tried to avoid any eye contact at all, was the meek staff member sweeping rubbish from the floor. She still had a trainee tag on her. "Hi, Trish. How are you doing?" I politely asked my former captor. "Fine, Mr Davis..." she barely audibly got out. "Please, Trish. I told you; call me Steve. We don't need to be too formal around here." "Sorry, miste- Steve..." She knew everyone knew who she was and what she had done, and she seemed to be in constant shame of it. She wasn't under any obligation to stay in the job, so I had a theory that she was, like the rest of us, wanting to have a connection to others who had gone through the experience she had and to be able to share in it. "Don't worry about it. And don't be shy about saying hi, or having a bit of a laugh with the other staff. The work is getting done. You can loosen up a bit." "Yes, sir." Trish obviously had no intention of following that directive. It was a shame she was being so closed. One of the few people affected by an actual active wish, she was stuck as a trainee, still figuring out her way at the job and doing the least responsible tasks she could until she began to fulfil the stipulations that would let her move on. But that was her choice, and she could change that at any time. She moved off to continue cleaning elsewhere in the foyer. I was happy to see most of the people satisfied with how things were. The new management had really made a difference. I smiled at the thought, because the new management was, well, me. I never undid the part of the wish that had made me manager, I just adjusted it slightly. Initially, it was just so I could make sure all the people who had been trapped here by the wishes would be looked after, but as I saw the camaraderie and peace they were getting from it all, I didn't want to leave that. On the encouragement of some of the others, I decided to stay on, but in a part time role, allowing me to finish college without putting myself under too much pressure. I would leave eventually, but for now, staff were happy, customers were happy, and, much to my surprise, I was happy. But since I was part time, someone else needed to take up the slack, and here they came out of the back office now. Joey walked over, in the shirt, slacks, jacket and nametag that identified the senior staff. I still had to get used to seeing my friend look the way they did. I decided to wish to be able to remember things as they were, and as I had believed them to be after Mr Williams' work, so my memories of Joey were muddled, but the freshest were of my female friend. But now, I was slowly getting used to him back as his original self. He retained his light frame, and was slightly taller than me, but his work attire was well fitted, giving him an appropriately friendly business vibe. It had taken him awhile to readjust to reality, having spent so long as a woman, and then the intensity that came with his time as a mother. Returning home, he found it tough that his parents didn't remember any of it. The residual feelings of the previous lives were tough to shake. But every day made it a little easier. He walked over to me with a smile. "I thought you'd never get here!" he greeted me with a big bear hug. We had become a lot more intimate since our changes. Our bond was intense, and something I couldn't imagine would fade. "Sorry, last minute notes in class. Remind me to send them to you later. You're not letting me graduate alone.? ?Haha, don?t you worry. I?ll be right there.? ?Good, good. So, are you ready for this?? I smiled. He grinned back. ?I thought you?d never ask.? We took each other?s hand as the magic of my final wish took over. A flash filled the room. Now holding my hand, looking down on me was my mother. She smiled down at her daughter. I gave my summer dress a wave, feeling the light fabric against my skin. ?Mommy! Stephanie!? We both turned to greet Shawn and Jamie as they ran up to us. We gathered in a family hug, embracing and loving each other. Neither Joey nor I would have been able to turn back from this family love we had, and we had cared too much to wish it all away, so I had decided to get creative. We couldn?t just let our real lives disappear, but we couldn?t completely let go of what Mr Williams had given us, so as a part of my wish, I made it so that, as long as we were both in agreement about doing it, we could, at will, change reality and be our family again, but this time, just to have family time together, not to be worrying about school or work or money. In the time they weren?t with us, my brother and sister were a part of a family with a very loving couple who, in reality, were unable to get approval for adoption, though they were the best family anyone could ask for. And they were local, so in our male form, Joey and I could see the kids going about their daily life, being happy. But it was sharing these moments together that we treasured. It might not have always been real, but it was real enough to us to want to hold on to it. With my mother?s arm around me, and holding my brother?s hand, who was holding my sister?s hand, we made our way in to see a movie together. ?I wonder what?s on?? mum asked. ?I want something with magic!? Shawn pipped in, which his sister enthusiastically agreed with. ?Don?t worry,? I said. ?There?s plenty of magic in this cinema.? THE END